


Meeting a Snake

by Aroomie



Series: Witcher's Crane and Viper [1]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Bullying, Crane Witchers, Frustration, M/M, Original Character(s), Self Confidence Issues, Self-Doubt, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Suicidal ideation (minor)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26636710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aroomie/pseuds/Aroomie
Summary: Arris is an abnormal Witcher.Too handsome to be a Witcher.Too mutated to pass as human.Teased by everyone, even those of his own school...Seems it takes a Viper to teach a Crane how to strike back.~~~~~I suck at Sumaries. *sob*
Relationships: Letho z Gulety | Letho of Gulet/Original Male Character(s), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Witcher's Crane and Viper [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1937845
Comments: 32
Kudos: 83
Collections: Notes From The Path





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because people liked my Crane OC from my previous work "The Feast"... And I adored the pairing... I apparently needed to expand it into its own thing.

"Hey, handsome, how much for a night with you?" Someone called out. Golden cat eyes slipped shut, ten seconds, five to breath in, five to breath out, then turn around. It was always easy to see who called out to him, their faces immediately paling once seeing the colour of his eyes and the medallion that lay against his breast. 

"You can't handle it." He said sickenly sweet then started on his way again, walking up to another dressed in similarly designed clothing but a darker shade of green instead of the neutral blue he wore.

"Again, Arris?" His companion asked and Arris scowled at him. "You know, for a witcher, you attract a lot of attention. This is what I get for traveling with you I suppose." Arris rolled his eyes at his traveling companion, a fellow witcher of his school, and started walking down the road without him. Matching swords adorning his companions back as well as a couple extra pouches and holsters, though most of his were empty. Stupid prick probably broke what ever was supposed to rest there. 

Arris, witcher from the school of the Crane, blonde hair that touched his shoulders and not a single scar marked his sun-kissed skin. His body perfectly shaped for any woman to swoon over, if he were human, broad-shouldered with a handsome jawline, his torso 'v' shaped, muscled legs with the amount of climbing the witcher did in his spare time. His school had another nickname for him, the swan even though that wasn't his actual title, it wasn't for praise but insult as Arris was by far the "prettiest" witcher to ever walk the path and he was under contact mockery for it. One of his mentors explained it was because he didn't yet receive any scars from his hunts but Arris knew It was just some excuse that was pulled from someone's ass to try and keep Arris from getting into his head too much.

"C'mon, Swan! It was a joke!" His companion called out and Arris' lip pulled back in a snarl as he quickly whirled around and growled at his companion who's hands immediately went up in defense. They believed him stupid, that he didn't know that "swan" was a mockery in his regard. 

"Jeeze, lighten up will you?" Arris' companion spoke with annoyance and Arris deflated, his shoulder slumping forward and head dipping, he turned and continued walking down the road. It's always the same thing. His companion started babbling away about the next town, hoping that there were contracts to fulfill, Arris knew that his "brother" only trailed along so he could make Arris do all the work and collect the pay all for himself, he knew it but he didn't say anything. What was the point? He would some how coming out as the one at fault anyways.

He ignored his companion for as long as possible, the two of them wandering about the coastal line as the headed towards the next village in search of contracts, Arris always let his mind wander at these times reminding himself why things are as they are, how they got there. His companion was younger than him much younger, fresh out of the trials, and still showed no respect to his higher-ranking brother, not that Arris expected much.

Years ago, when he himself was fresh out of the mutations, someone mocked him for the colour of his hair. The wiry sandy strands changing into vibrant healthy strands of gold that almost matched his new eyes, he was told he was too pretty to be a Witcher, that he should throw himself off a cliff now cause there was no way he'd survive on the path fighting monsters. Arris retaliated, physically, and ended up costing the other boy his life. Arris was trained for two weeks straight after that, no food, only water, and he broke on the last day. The fight to defend himself against his brother's insults vanishing, his only fight back was to the monsters they faced. That's okay, he deserves it, and if a monster one day kills him, well… he deserves that too.

It took an hour to get to the next town and of course, Arris was the one searching for a contract. When he finally found one he had to haggle for the best price, had to ask the details, ask what witnesses what they saw. His companion not doing anything save for spending _his_ coin on drink. Arris breathed calmly through his nose, it's fine… he can just make more later when he finally ditches the other Crane. It's _fine_.

~~~~

It was not fucking fine! 

The contract, as it turned out, was already completed unknowingly by another witcher and Arris groaned loud enough to draw the large mans attention and watch as the Crane push both hands on his head and lean back in an exasperated move before bending at the knee and squatting there, hands still pressed to his hair, and cursing under his breath. What could possibly go wrong…?

"Oi! It's not safe here, move along." The gruff voice of the other witcher called out and Arris wanted to scream. Of course, he was mistaken for a human. Arris growled and stood up, marching over to the witcher and took in his appearance. Shaven head, strong jaw, muscle-bound like a bear, a snake medallion hanging around his neck. Of fucking course it was a Viper. 

"You need _this_ if you want to be paid." Arris growled and shoved the notice he ripped off the board earlier that day and the large man grunted, looking at the pamphlet. 

"Huh. Interesting." The Viper growled out and Arris rolled his eyes. "Why give this to me, why not just run off and collect the pay?" He asked Arris and the Crane rolled his eyes.

"I need proof?" Arris mocked. "Besides… You did all the work, not fair if you don't get the pay." The Crane said and looked at the pile of siren bodies littering the beach. "Mind if I take some ingredients though?" Arris looked at the Viper, whose eyes were wide once he actually realized that Arris was a witcher, and he nodded stupidly. Arris nodded his thanks and pulled out his dagger and went to work, he threw a couple of things over at the Viper who was still standing there watching him, figuring the Viper could use some of the stuff too.

When he was finally done, divvying up everything he harvested and giving the Viper more than half, Arris packed up and headed back to the town and huffed when he looked over his shoulder and saw the Viper looking around for the contractor. So he whistled, caught the Viper's attention, and waved off to his left toward a man talking with a couple of other humans. The Viper gave him an odd look but nodded his thanks and walked to the contract holder while Arris continued on and did everything he could to not be noticed by his companion, but of course shit wasn't that easy. 

"Swan!" Arris growled and stopped in his step, looking toward the Witcher running towards him. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon! How'd it go?" He asked happily and Arris started at him for a long time before scowling hard.

"Didn't. Another beat me to it." Arris said with a scowl and his companion frowned.

"Why didn't you just take the pay? We did the work for tracking the monster down." He said and Arris' brow twitched. We?... WE?!.. Arris took a long breath, held it, then let it out. 

"He did the hard work. Leave it." Arris growled and his companion scoffed loudly.

"I don't know why I followed you, Swan. You're as fucking useless as they say you are!" The other witcher yelled loud enough for everyone to hear him and Arris frowned hard. He didn't ask the man to come, he didn't bully him, no, he was just walking along and minding his own god damn business when this little shit came along and… No, stop. It doesn't matter.

"Then leave. Find someone else to travel with." Arris said and the other Witcher gaped at Arris for a good second before scoffing loudly and storming off. Taking Arris' coin pouch with him. Arris groaned and rubbed his hands over his face, taking a moment to just stand there, before continuing on. At least this way he didn't have to worry about people using his coin.

Arris was fifteen minutes down the road when he paused and looked behind him when he heard horse hooves and Arris lifted his brow when he saw that same Viper riding up behind him. He paused and stepped off the road, expecting the Viper to just ride on by but blinked when the witcher stopped and held out his hand.

"Here." The Viper grumped and Arris' brow lifted slightly as he looked from the hand to the witcher it was attached too. "Just take it, will you? Your brother was raving about how you gave him all your coin. Noble, but stupid." The Viper said and Arris' eyes narrowed on the Viper before his eyes dropped to the witchers hand.

"Not freely." Arris growled softly and the Viper blinked in surprise as Arris raised his hand and held it open underneath the extended Vipers. He opened his hand and a small pouch of coin fell into his palm and Arris' brow shot up when he felt the weight, it must have been everything he haggled the contract holder for. Arris looked back at the Viper. 

"Dealing with humans is the worst part of this work. You earned that." He said, dipping his head to the coin purse in Arris' hand. The Crane felt himself smile and he quickly wiped it off, giving a nod and looking away.

"Letho." The Viper said and Arris looked back at him with a lifted brow. "My name. Seeing as I know yours from your brother, you may as well know mine." Letho said and Arris snorted.

"My name isn't Swan." Arris grunted and Letho's brow lifted.

"No? What is it then?" Letho asked and Arris sighed heavily.

"Arris." Arris said and Letho nodded some.

"So what, Swan is your nickname?" Letho asked and Arris scowled.

"Peregrine. My other name is Peregrine." Arris said and with that, he thanked Letho for the coin and walked off the path. He clutched the coin purse to his chest, holding his breath, his cheeks finally turning a shade of red without permission. 

That was the first time another witcher had ever done anything for him that he hadn't asked for. Arris looked at the purse in his hand then looked over his shoulder at the road, the viper, Letho, no longer there, but Arris still smiled.


	2. 2nd meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arris and Letho cross paths once again.

Arris learned something new about himself, it was completely bizarre and unexpected, but apparently, it was a thing now. The coin that Letho had given him had to be used, of course, but what Arris didn't expect of himself was to save one, keeping it tucked away in a bit of fabric and safely stored in one of his pouches. He refused to use this coin, keeping the souvenir of Letho's, the first person ever, to show him kindness just because. 

Arris had completed over a dozen hunts since then, truly expecting to never see the other witcher ever again, so the day that he did, six months later, was an utter surprise. Arris had a contract for a few drowners and while it was a low enough number to be taken out alone, it was still easier with a partner, lucky for him one of the other Crane's was tagging along with him.

Unlucky was that he was still fighting the disgusting creatures alone while his "brother" sat up on a rock, picking his fingernails with his dagger. Arris growled, a drowner under an arm while impaling another. 

"You could fucking help!" Arris yelled and his "brother" scoffed, waving his dagger about.

"You got it handled." His "brother" said and Arris snarled as he decapitated two drowners in one go by the strength of his annoyance, snapping the neck of the one under his arm, then used aard to knock the others back. Grabbing his crossbow, he fired off a bolt that buried itself into the head of one, and Arris only needed a few minutes more before he was removing the head of the last, breathing hard and covered in gods knows what, his golden gaze darting to his "brother" who was still on the fucking rock, and Arris wanted to scream. 

"Well, well." Arris paused, his arm partially raised with a decapitated drowner head in hand aimed at his "brother" and blinked as he watched a large witcher come into view.

"Ah, Letho." Arris said and Letho grinned at Arris. 

"Having fun?" Letho motioned to the head in Arris' hand and the Crane huffed in annoyance, looking back to his "brother" and the fucker _still_ hasn't moved or looked up from his nails. 

"A fucking blast." Arris said dryly and Letho looked over at the other witcher, his lips pressed firmly together. The Viper looked back at Arris and tipped his head, Arris' brow lifting slightly but climbed out of the water and across the shore, Letho reaching out to help the Crane up the steep bank and cast one last glance at the other Crane before leading Arris into the trees to a clearing where it was obvious that the Viper had set up camp. 

"Lovely person there, your brother." Letho said and Arris scoffed, flipping the dead drowner head around in his hands before dropping it to deal with later as Letho offered a water skin to him as they both sat down.

"Not my brother." Arris said and Letho's head tilted. 

"No? You wear the same medallions." Letho said and watched Arris curiously the Crane taking a long drink from the skin. 

"Just because I share their medallion does not mean that they are my brothers." Arris said with a frown, looking away. Letho frowned. 

"You know… I bumped into another Crane not long ago. He was going by some ridiculous thing… The Penguin or some shit?" Arris snorted, rubbing a hand over his face. "Is that what you Cranes do? Pick weird bird names to go by as you walk the path?" Letho asked and Arris grinned at him. 

"Only some pick the weirder birds." Arris said and Letho nodded sagely. 

"I see, I see. So what, you are Swan then?" Letho asked and looked to Arris. "Whoa, hey… Did I say something wrong?" Letho asked as the look on Arris' face was of utter ruin, eyes distant and chapped lips pressed into a frown. 

"No. They call me that, it's not my bird name though…" Arris said and Letho frowned a little bit more, scooting closer to the Crane. 

"What is your bird?" Letho asked, not touching the other name. He can poke at that later when Arris wasn't looking so utterly destroyed.

"Peregrine." Arris said and Letho's brow lifted.

"The hawk?" He asked and Arris nodded. "Hmm, no offense but I don't see it." Letho grinned and Arris rolled his eyes with a smirk. 

"No one does. It's why they call me Swan." Arris huffed. "I'm too "pretty" to be on the path, in their opinion." Arris added and Letho's tilted his head.

"Seriously?" Letho asked. "I say it's about time someone came out of one of these shit schools lookin' as good as you do." Letho said and Arris laughed, shaking his head. Letho smiled over at him, hearing the Crane laugh was captivating. 

"You're sweet, full of shit, but sweet." Arris said and Letho snorted. He'll convince the Crane one day maybe, the witcher was indeed good to look at after all. 

"What the fuck, Arris!?" Both Arris and Letho blinked at the voice, watching as the other Crane came out of the woods towards them. "Why the fuck didn’t' you say you were headed off?!" He yelled in annoyance and Arris rolled his eyes. 

"You're a witcher, not a helpless fawn." Arris said then mumbled. "Not like I didn't clear the area or anything…" Letho frowned at Arris' words, his eyes sliding back to the other Crane.

"Whatever, Swan. Come on, let's go back and collect our pay." The Crane said and Arris huffed, running a hand through his hair before standing and looked towards Letho and forced a smile, Letho decided he didn’t like that look at all. 

"See you around, Viper." Arris said teasingly.

"Peregrine." Letho smirked and Arris' cheeks flooded with heat as he stared at Letho with wide eyes before smiling so genuinely Letho wondered if it hurt. 

"Swan! Let's go!" The other Crane yelled in irritation and Arris' smile fell. He went about collecting the head he threw down earlier and huffed, waving to Letho one last time before walking over to the other Crane. Letho fought back a snarl as he watches Arris get cuffed over the head for no reason, the man laughing with delight and Letho wondered why Arris wasn't doing anything back at his brother. 

Letho smiled when Arris quickly glanced his way and Arris waved once again before having his arm grabbed by the other Crane and physically dragged off. 

There was definitely something wrong with this… Brothers of the same school were supposed to support one another, not sit in silence and clean their nails while their brother was being swarmed by drowners. Without knowing how Letho made a promise to look out for Arris, he wanted to get to know the Crane better. He only hoped it was mutual.


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys start traveling together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeeee~!

Letho was annoyed with himself. He'd spend weeks trying to think of something he could do to help Arris, but every idea he had was shot down with some complication or just being generally creepy. He sighed loudly and rubbed a hand over his face as he rode into town, his attention drawn to a small group of people yelling over one another.

"I told you to bring her back alive!" Someone yelled.

"Why didn't you save her!?" Another screamed past tears. 

"I already told you… She was dead when I arrived…" Arris. Letho's brow lifted slightly and steered his horse towards the crowd. 

"Bull shit! You just didn't kill the thing fast enough!" A man yelled and Letho watched as irritation and sadness filled Arris' face before returning to neutral.

"Calm, my good man." Letho's brow lifted, it was that same Crane that was with Arris before. "You were told the possibility of the girl being dead before we left. You are right, though, we could have left sooner. Swan here insisted we gather more information." The witcher said and Letho watched as Arris' brow twitched and lips form a barely-there frown. Arris looked exhausted while his "brother" looked fresh as a fucking daisy.

"Why didn't you press him!?" The man asked and the other Crane sighed, completely fake and put upon. 

"Swan is my superior, I can simply recommend our next move." Letho scowled. Witcher's don't work like that… If one of them is being stupid, then the one they partnered with would either ditch them or complete the contract alone. They didn't report to one another. 

"You fucking monster!" Letho's attention snapped back. "If you just did what we hired you for, she would still be here!" Letho watched in horror as the angry grief-stricken man slapped Arris hard enough across the face that the witchers head snapped to the side. The group froze, staring in stunned silence as the man realized what he did and began stuttering out a piss poor apology. Arris took a long breath, closing his eyes, and collected himself before looking towards the human again.

"I apologize for not being able to save your daughter, truly, but there is more to being a witcher then just jumping into the first hole we are directed too." Arris said calmly, his cheek turning bright red from the hit. 

"I'm not paying you." The man said sternly and Letho smirked as he waited for the argument, the fightback, the explanation of why he still deserves the pay.

"That's fine." Arris conceded and Letho's jaw went slack. Did he seriously… Arris spun on his heel and shouldered his way through the crowd, his "brother" following behind. 

"You could have stood up to him, you know." The other Crane said. "We deserved that pay." 

Letho could see the storm cross over Arris' face but quickly pass to resignation, his eyes dropping to the ground as they continued walking. 

"I mean… We _did_ do all the work to find that nest. I mean really, could it have been any harder?" The other Crane babbled, and Letho watched as the Crane reached over and picked Arris' coin purse from his pocket and shuffle through what was there. 

"Don’t' have much left, do ya? Hmmm, ah well, should be enough for a drink or two." The other Crane grinned then walked off and Arris just sighed and kept walking. Letho frowned hard and dismounted his horse, quickly stepping in the way of the other witcher who grunted when he collided with Letho's chest. 

"Ouf! My apolo-- Letho?" Arris stared up at Letho, the Viper glaring in the direction of the other Crane.

"You always let your brothers take your coin like that?" Letho asked, looking down at Arris. The Crane averted his gaze.

"Doesn't matter." Arris mumbled softly and Letho growled.

"The fuck it doesn't!" He hissed and Arris frowned hard.

"It doesn’t matter. They all treat me like that, only our mentors don't." Arris huffed. "I'm their best student, which makes the others jealous… While they return to the keep for winters with new scars, I have none." Arris said and Letho's brow lifted.

"None?" He asked and Arris nodded. 

"None." Arris echoed and Letho whistled.

"You're gonna have to prove that one day." Letho said and Arris blushed slightly. "I'm definitely going to need to see you in action." Arris laughed at that and Letho smirked down at him, the Crane being little more than a head shorter than him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"What say you to traveling together for a bit, hmm?" Letho suggested and Arris' brow lifted as he smirked.

"A snake traveling with a Crane?" Arris asked and Letho shrugged.

"I happen to like our little interactions, Crane. I would like to experience more." Letho said rather smugly and Arris laughed again. "And traveling with me… You don't have to do all the work and get no pay." Letho added and Arris looked up at Letho in surprise. "What? Didn't think I'd notice?" Letho asked and Arris looked away. 

"Why do you let them do that?" Letho asked gently and Arris sighed softly, closing his eyes.

"A story for another time." Arris said and Letho just nodded. He glanced back at his horse then back at Arris. 

"Want to ride?" Letho asked and Arris let out a squawk. 

"I don't do horses… Well, they don't do me, I should say." Arris said and Letho laughed.

"C'mon, Sky here is a rather tame beast." Letho said and Arris rolled his eyes.

"Bull shit." Arris said, making Letho laugh, but the Viper was determined and grabbed Arris' arm and pulled the Crane over to his mare and pushed his hand to her nose. Arris froze completely while Sky nudged his hand, snuffling at his palm before nibbling against it affectionately, and looking for treats, and Letho grinned as he looked at Arris.

"Shut up…" Arris' face warmed and Letho chuckled.

"C'mon, get up." Letho said and smiled at the hesitant look from the Crane then moved to help the witcher into the saddle. Arris fidgeted in the saddle, trying to get comfortable, and Letho just grinned at him and started to lead Sky away but stopped when a voice rang out.

"Hey! Where the hell you goin' with Swan there?" Letho looked over to see the other Crane walking over to them, empty coin purse in hand. 

"I'm going to be traveling with Arris here for a bit." Letho said and the other Crane's eyes narrowed before a large smile broke out on his lips as he looked to Arris. 

"Come now, Swan, you don't really want to travel with a Viper, do you? C'mon! We have such fun together!" He said and Arris frowned while Letho growled. "We can work together more! Have more fun, and I will even help you get the coin we ear----" The Crane didn't get to finish his sentence as Letho's fist suddenly connected with the smaller witchers throat and Arris started with wide eyes as the crumpled to the dirt coughing. 

"You piece of shit. He does everything while you sit there and reap the reward!" Letho hissed and Arris could only stare in awe. "Do your own hunts, you little shit!" Letho sneered and pulled Sky along as he walked away from the still choking witcher and Arris watched over his shoulder as they walked away from him. 

"Wow…" Arris breathed and Letho continued walking. "Why did you…?" His voice trailed off and he looked at Letho, the Viper grunted, looking up at him. 

"You don't deserve what they do. I don't fucking care about your reasoning as to why you think you do, you fucking don't." Letho growled and Arris just nodded dumbly as Letho turned his eyes forward again. Arris smiled to himself, watching Letho walk along next to his horse while Arris rode. 

Things could be worse, but maybe it was okay that they were getting better?

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh~! This is happening apparently.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Peregrine](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29137656) by [Luninarie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luninarie/pseuds/Luninarie)




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